Pink rose ring giveaway

In celebration of the first pink blossoms appearing on my new dwarf nectarine tree, I've decided that today its time for a giveaway!

These pretty little roses always seem to get a gasp of delight from people so I'm sharing the love. One lucky reader will score the pink porcelain rose ring pictured on the left. All you need to do to go into the draw is leave a comment!


The rose is fixed onto an adjustable silver-coated copper ringbase, so it fits a variety of sizes.

Shown here on my finger so you can see
the actual size of the rose.

Good luck everyone!

Pink rose ring giveaway

6 ways to get happy

Happiness 'experts' report that spending on luxury goods, rather than making you happier, tend to create one-upmanship behaviour, and that wealth may in fact interfere with your ability to enjoy positive emotions that come from life's small pleasures, eg eating some chocolate. Alternatively, investing in an event-related activity like travel or cooking classes is less likely to incite competitive behavior with others (hmmm haven't they heard of masterchef) and therefore lead to more feelings of happiness.

Personally? I disagree - buying a pair of beautiful shoes really and truly does make me happy, not just in that moment but for ages afterwards. I have pairs of shoes that still enrapture me years later. And I'm sure that there are others who agree with me!

But for those days when shoes can't do the trick (ie when the bank balance doesn't stretch that far) here are six activities that should get you feeling cheerful.

1. Climb a mountain,go on a hike, or simply take a walk in your closest green space/park/garden.
2. Smile at/compliment a stranger: make new friends, build relationships.
3. Pamper yourself with a spa treatment. This can be as simple as filling a tub with hot water and bath salts and soaking your feet for 10min.
4. Enjoy guilt-free fine dining in a paradise setting - take a drive to the country and munch on some of your favourite fresh fruit out in the open air.
5. Get in the flow of your life: do something new, challenging and fun. Remember that challenging yourself is fun - even if you are a little frightened by that!
6. Breathe in salt air, listen to wave sounds, feel the sand between your toes (this is definitely one of my faves).

What do you do when you're feeling blue and shoes won't do?

6 ways to get happy

CWC feature

The lovely Tess McCabe of Creative Women's Circle Melbourne has featured me, along with a bunch of super-fab creative women, on the CWC blog.
Thank you Tess! I've already had some great advice from women in this group. If you are a local creative woman then get yourself over there and say hello :)

CWC feature

Shooting tomorrow

Oh the horrors of being weather-dependant when shooting outdoors!
I am keeping a beady eye on the weather reports whilst maintaining some shreds of sanity by firmly believing we'll be fine, and the heavens WILL NOT open during our photoshoot.

In the meantime, here are some of my concept pics for the morrow.

I took some of these location snaps whilst walking Spike. As you can see he has no qualms about interfering with artistic requirements.

Shooting tomorrow

Shop Review: Blue Attic

Blue Attic Boutique & Cafe holds a special place in my heart for so many reasons.

This gorgeous little hidden gem at the Brunswick East end of Lygon Street (which is actually the northen end, go figure) is stuffed to the gills with locally-designed-and-made clothing, bags, toys, hats, kids gear & other goodies. It was my first stockist, several years ago when I was just another jewellery designer with a dream, trying to convince people to stock my carefully crafted wares.


Tani, the effervescent force of nature behind Blue Attic, welcomed me in with open arms, and we have been firm friends ever since. We've celebrated & sorrowed together, worked & played together. I'll never forget the night we got all togged up in fancy dress and sat in the shop, cleared of stock for the evening, waving our glasses to cheer at various passers-by who peered in though the shop windows at our merry-making. We've shared our stories of the joys & pitfalls of starting up your own business: what to do when sales are slow, how to attract a regular clientele, what's the best way to get your message out there, and just how to manage becoming a multi-skilled juggler of time and resources!

I called in the other day to grab a chai latte & drop off some new earrings for the shop, and found Tani talking to a new designer who's now placed their work in Blue Attic. The new product (fab retro aprons, see left for an example) were so gorgeous that I decided it was high time I ran around the shop taking happy snaps of some of my favourite things, as its guaranteed that every time I go in there, I find something new which makes me shriek "OhmygodiLOVEthis!" - and its definitely time I shared the images of these goodies with those of you dear readers who aren't lucky enough to live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
So here goes, some of my favourite local artsncrafty creative designer work featured in Blue Attic:

How great are these cat rings? Made by Old Alan, I think they are awesome! So are the crocheted ones that you can see in the background.

I love these purses from Map29 - the fabric has pages from the local street directory printed on them. I'm waiting to get one with Moreland Road on it :)

And how cute are these little nappycover and hairband sets from Retro Kid for a splash of summer?

Cute knitted stuffed toys lounge next to you on the couch while you sip your cappuccino. These particular ones aren't actually for sale, but are for little people who might otherwise want to play with all the other fabulous things on offer instore :)

Snack on a gluten-free/vegan cupcake from either Vegan Muff or Bake Pretty. Mmm! My favourite is the Bounty Cake - chocolate and coconut. I kid you not - one day I called in there and practically inhaled that sucker.

I love the kooky dracula doll from Monsta.

These gorgeous handmade soaps by Quintessence keep you both yummy-smelling and looking delicious.

Tea cosies AND dragons!?!? What's not to love?!

These pretty corsage brooches are from Irena.

Petrol heads are covered with these cool retro car tees (I'd be the last one to call myself a petrol head, I know nothing at all about cars, but I think these are so cool).

Maxwell's laser cut jewellery using paper and wood are fabulous.

This fab dress is by Istana.

New from Joolz at Blue Attic is this gelati-coloured mother-of-pearl necklace, with a matching pair of earrings, and I also dropped off another pair of long chandelier-style earrings made from recycled vintage faux pearls.

Incredibly, there is so much more fabulousness in Blue Attic, but I think maybe I've shared enough with you for one day!

There might have to be a part two... 

Blue Attic, 323 Lygon St East Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia, 3057

Shop Review: Blue Attic

Tuesday's Artist

How awesome is this? I love the internet :) These incredible tiny works of art are by zen-master of patience, Dalton Ghetti. I had to share them with you guys.

Patience is something I really need sometimes! I'm just going to look at these for a minute and remind myself that everything doesn't have to be "fast, fast, fast".

Tuesday's Artist

hot hot hot

Hot Hot Hot!!!

I love this makeup. Seen on Sassi Sam's blog

and so I had to give you The Cure lyrics to their song of the same title as my blog entry for today. Its been playing in my head, now it's playing in yours :)

the first time i saw lightning strike
i saw it underground
six deep feet below the street
the sky came crashing down
for a second that place was lost in space
then everything went black
i left that basement burning
and i never went back
the second time i saw it strike
i saw it at sea
it lit up all the fish like rain
and rained them down on me
for a second that boat was still afloat
then everything went black
i left it underwater
and i never went back
hey hey hey!!!
but i like it when that lightning comes
hey hey hey!!!
yes ilike it a lot
hey hey hey!!!
yes i'm jumping like a jumping jack
dancing screaming itching squealing fevered
feeling hot hot hot!!!
the third time i saw lightning strike
it hit me in bed
it threw me around
and left me for dead
for a second that room was on the moon
then everything went black
i left that house on fire
and i never went back
hey hey hey!!!
but i like it when that lightning comes
hey hey hey!!!
yes ilike it a lot
hey hey hey!!!
yes i'm jumping like a jumping jack
dancing screaming itching squealing fevered
feeling hot hot hot!!!

hot hot hot